Time for a zero refugee policy? - *Read OP for mod warnings and threadbans - updated 11/5/24*

Do you know many dog owners? They're like family members to a lot of people and I think a lot of (if not most) dog owners would try if they could to bring their pets with them if it was feasible to do so. That's not "bleeding hearts" — if you can bring the dog you'd probably bring the dog, and if you had to ditch the dog then you'd have to ditch it.

Ukraine isn't exactly the third world like, its a case of refugees fleeing who would have significantly better means to travel and bring pets with them than people fleeing Africa or the Middle East — especially in the context where Europe is relatively easy to travel across and there is a good chance the animal will get looked after. That is probably part of the reason why the spend was a lot higher than was probably anticipated, and other countries appear to have spent a fair bit on it too.

And I come back to the point again — this God awful blame game whereby if it isn't the case that Ukrainians are the reason that Irish children didn't get vital surgery, then it has to at least be the case that a person who brings their pet needs to be viewed with suspicion. It's OK to question the spend of the 800k — but it's the tendency to play the man and not the ball on here that makes it hard to take certain frustrations on here as being sincere.

And why wasn't the money thrown at housing 5-6 years ago? Was that because of the refugees?

Imagine being a parent of a child suffering from scoliosis and being told: "sorry no funding available for the surgical procedure this year....budgets, waiting list....etc". It's disgusting.

All the same... 800k. Have we actually just lost the plot altogether... we are like some crass rich kid throwing notes all around the place in a show of wealth. Im sure there are plenty of schools, clubs and charities that would take that 800k or a slice of it.

I suppose we have to discuss it here then - but like I said it’s not that it went to Ukrainians or any refugees it’s just a gross misallocation of funds that you think would have been nipped in the bud far earlier - like who had the power to keep that going and what was the reason?

So what is the solution?

You can go right up the garden path with that one.

Any government that signs off on spending in this regard deserves to be tossed over the cliffs of moher head first.

We have a situation where close on a million €uro of taxpayers money is used to transport fcukin cats and dogs here while Irish kids cannot access proper healthcare is an absolute **** abomination.

Jesus H **** Christ, at least the Bishops weren't this lacking of morals. And that IS saying something.

Sure why wouldn't you want that kind of diversity here. He's clearly one of the many random 'refugees' that are propping up our health service

And all immigrants in the health service are random mostly uneducated/unskilled blokes claiming refugee status I suppose then?

Nobody has an issue with people coming here to contribute and work. They do have issues with importing random useless people like the above though. Any sort of half honest look at how it went in Sweden would give cause for concern for following the same route

Well if there was not the number coming in there

would be no need .

That's a nice way to try and muddy the waters alright, but it's not accurate.

There's a world of difference between someone who arrives here legally, with needed skills, and the ability to contribute and support themselves, and an asylum seeker or low-skilled economic migrant who may be posing as one of the former to gain entry.

But let's take your comment at face value for a moment - why is that the case? Could it be that the current Government (and FG in particular who've been in power now for over a decade) have squandered the chance to rebuild and reform Ireland in the wake of the financial crash (as was their mandate incidentally in 2011), but instead have actively exacerbated the fundamental issues in health, housing, (lack of) rural development etc by selling off everything they could to investment funds or the connected, the fiasco that was Irish Water, and all the other scandals and waste that ultimately have created a situation where grown adults in their 30s and 40s on "good" money can't afford to buy a home, where others are stuck paying thousands per month on rent and praying the inevitable day when they're told to leave doesn't happen this month, and where Health has 20 billion plus thrown at it annually yet still can't run an adequate service in a small country of 5 million people!

Of course that last part is also the problem because we have encouraged tens/hundreds of thousands of people to come and chance their arm in the last decade as well (also stated FG policy incidentally with their plan to increase the population of county towns and cities) which has only added to the problems and the pressure on already limited resources. This is also part of the reason why people can't get a GP appointment in a reasonable time, can't find a school place for their children, are seeing social issues locally because no thought was given to what all these extra people would do all day etc etc...

This was obvious to everyone from the start who bothered to think for a minute (as evidenced in the start of this thread), and abundantly clear now in the latest polls which have said enough is enough but also that the long overdue reform of our border controls and immigration policies is very much on their radar for the upcoming elections (which is why the Government are making noises about it - not because they realise that we've hit the limits of capacity, but rather the limits of people's patience and tolerance and the impact this will have on their political survival and returns in said upcoming elections).

This is obvious too to anyone who has even a passing interest in Irish politics so no one should be surprised - or taken in! - by this "awakening" in Government circles. This is about the party alone, not the people - native or otherwise!

I suspect though that you're well aware of all of the above. Anyone posting in this thread is well aware of the issues and the causes (recent and more long standing as I've outlined above), but I suppose for some the loss of face to anonymous people on the Internet would be too much to bear at this stage - or they really do believe what they're saying, which is not only misguided (at best) but outright disturbing that all of these problems and issues can somehow be squared away to keep pushing "the message".

But as I've said before too, unfortunately ideology, wishful thinking and willful ignorance don't fare well when they eventually run headlong into that hard unforgiving wall called reality - which is exactly where we are today.

I have never argued that there isnt an economic difference between skilled migrant workers and asylum seekers.

We undoubtedly need the former and we will always support the latter, but I agree that our infrastructure has now grown in accordance with our population growth and ultimately, some kind of resource planning will be needed to manage asylum immigration.

Skilled migrants wont move here if they dont have a home to move into, but of course asylum seekers do not have that luxury.

We need to do much more to develop housing and infrastructure and we are moving in the right direction.

Over 30k homes built last year and probably closer to 35k this year.

We still need to do more however and slow down in commercial construction this year should help lift residential completions further in 2024 and beyond.

I am not sure immigration itself will play a large part in the election outcome though, as none of the major parties are seeking an asylum cap/number control mechanism....not yet, at least.

The Danes have never operated a zero refugee policy.